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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters What about the Syrians?
By Ranwa YehiaAnti-Syrian student demonstrations, angry Lebanese reactions to comments made by a French official on Syria's presence in Lebanon, the removal of some Syrian checkpoints in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and finally, President Emile Lahoud's firm response were questions that gripped the country over the past week.
The possible consequences of an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon by early July have brought to the fore the issue of the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
As political analyst Michael Young wrote in an opinion piece in Beirut's English-language The Daily Star on Saturday: "There are signs of a new Israeli, American and, even French approach to Syria's role in Lebanon. Syria has been reminded in the past days that, without a settlement, its influence in Lebanon will be questioned."
Student riots that erupted last week were sparked by the arrest of two students who shouted anti-Syria slogans and distributed leaflets calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Syria has 35,000 troops stationed in the country with the agreement of the Beirut government.
The riots came days after Israel informed the United Nations it has decided to withdraw from an enclave it has occupied in south Lebanon since 1978. While similar anti-Syrian demonstrations were staged in the past mainly by Christian supporters of Michel Aoun, an anti-Syrian former Lebanese army commander who has lived in exile in France since 1990, last week's protests included students belonging to various leftist groups.
One political commentator said that while calls for a Syrian withdrawal were publicly voiced only by those described as "Christian extremists," the expected Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon is bound to prompt even "moderate Christians and other Lebanese to question the presence of Syria following an Israeli withdrawal."
Fearing a Middle East peace settlement could strengthen Syria's position in Lebanon, Christian opponents of Damascus have also warned against a peace deal under which Syria would maintain its military and political control over Lebanon.
Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976 to restore peace at a time when Lebanon was immersed in civil war. The conflict, which dragged on for another 14 years, ended under an Arab-brokered power-sharing accord that also stipulates an eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops.
On Sunday, Syrian newspapers said the demonstrators were trying to carry out a "sinister Israeli plot to tarnish the Lebanese government's reputation."
"Israel is exerting desperate efforts to cover up its vicious defeat expressed in its ... decision to withdraw from southern Lebanon," said an editorial in the Syrian government paper Tishrin.
In addition, comments made by French Defense Minister Alain Richard last week, in which he said he believed "Syria placed its control of Lebanon above making peace with Israel and regaining the Golan Heights," sparked angry reactions from Lebanese and Syrian officials alike.
Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss considered Richard's comments as "an unacceptable interference in Lebanon's internal affairs." Most Lebanese political parties condemned Richard's comments, with only one opinion voiced in support of the French minister. The Lebanese Forces, a Christian party opposed to Syria, praised Richard's remark, saying that he "revealed the true Syrian role and ambitions in Lebanon."
"We also call on the international community and decision-making countries to rescue Lebanon from the claws of Israeli and Syrian occupations and [to help it] restore its sovereignty," the party said.
Also highlighting the issue of the Syrian presence were reports of the removal of several Syrian checkpoints and positions in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, a main Syrian stronghold, as well as in some Beirut areas.
Syrian security forces were also reported to have summoned all Syrian labourers working in villages close to the Israeli-occupied zone in the south and western Bekaa, an action which could be linked to possible developments in south Lebanon's occupied zone. Security sources said, however, that the decision to summon workers from areas close to Israeli targets was simply to protect the Syrians. A bomb exploded outside a Syrian workers' compound in south Lebanon on 19 April, a day after a worker was killed by shells fired from the occupied zone.
While Lebanese security sources have insisted that the removal of Syrian checkpoints was simply a routine procedure and that the activity was a redeployment and not a step toward a Syrian withdrawal, the news was front-page material in most Lebanese papers.
To counter the growing public voicing of opposition to the Syrian presence in Lebanon, President Emile Lahoud on Friday criticised the students' actions, saying the demonstrations served Israeli interests.
"The state's position has been decided on this matter. This [Syrian] presence is legitimate and temporary and to deal with it has to be in accordance with a timing that serves our common interests, not Israel's," he added.
Lahoud's statement came immediately following his return from a tour of Arab countries to brief leaders on Israel's planned military withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Observers believe that the firmness of Lahoud's statement aimed at putting an end to the continuing commotion over the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
On the other side of the coin, the release of 13 Lebanese detainees from an Israeli prison on 19 April was regarded as a positive step on Israel's part before its expected withdrawal in July.
The 13 men -- kept as bargaining chips by the Israelis -- spent between 12 to 14 years in administrative detention. Following their release at a crossing in south Lebanon, the 13 detainees were immediately transported to Hizbullah's headquarters in one of Beirut's southern suburbs. Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah described the release as a victory and a result of the strong blows resistance fighters have delivered to Israel.
Nasrallah said he expected more releases to take place in the near future and warned that Hizbullah will do "everything to secure the release of all Lebanese detainees, whether they are held in prisons in the occupied zone or inside Palestine."
